A group of KU architecture and design students, along with their professor Nils Gore, designed a floating patio for Clinton Lake’s marina just in time for summer.
The new patio will expand the marina’s existing floating restaurant-bar’s outdoor space, allowing for live music. The hope is the dock will become a destination in its own right — rather than just an afterthought after spending a day on the water.
The students “whiteboarded” the marina’s requests for an outdoor live music space and bar that was open yet shady, inviting, easily maintained and able to withstand the area’s high winds.
Professor Gore says the driving force was, “shade, at the base level. We want a canopy protecting the new patio community area, but instead of simply shade, we want a statement piece that is multi-functional, beautiful and inviting.”
The students’ final design is an undulating steel frame along the perimeter of the newly extended dock with a canopy of angled, wooden slats that let in some—but not too much—sun. The center has open-sky seating, a raised platform to the side is for live performances.
Farther out in the water, connected by a floating walkway, is a tiki bar with a steel and angled slat canopy that echoes the main patio design.
The new space is scheduled for a May opening.
